Showing posts with label Chile. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chile. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 3, 2024
Zooming in on Betelgeuse - European Southern Observatory - astrophysics
The video takes the viewer from the constellation of Orion to the surface of the red supergiant star Betelgeuse,which underwent an unprecedented dimming in 2019 and 2020.This was observed by this blog.As we zoom closer to the star,we see the star's "flames",clouds of dust in a dramatic image taken with the VISIR instrument on the Very Large Telescope.The dot appearing at the end of the zoom is a March 2020 image taken with the SPHERE instrument of the Very Large Telescope.It shows Betelgeuse's visible surface,which has a sixe close to that of the orbit of Jupiter.*Text by ESO and edited by Andrew Taylor*Red supergiants progress to a supernova explosion,so Betelgeuse is closely monitored by scientests.
Monday, May 13, 2024
A journey to Proxima Centauri and its planet - YouTube - ESO - astrophysics
This video (silent) shows an artist's impression of a trip from Earth to Proxima b,the closest planet to our Solar System.As we leave our Solar System,we see the familiar constellation figures,including the Southern Cross (Crux) and the bright stars Alpha and Beta Centauri.We gradually close on a faint red star,Beta Centauri,the closest star to Earth and the faintest component of a triple star system.The final part shows the planet Proxima b,the closest exoplanet to our Solar System.
ESO edited by Andrew Taylor
Credit:ESO,/L. Calcada/Nick Risinger (sky survey.org)
Located in Atacama,Chile,the ESO is supported by a consortium of EU member states.
Monday, April 22, 2024
Record-breaking quasar's growth is equivalent to 'one Sun per day' -YouTube - Space.com - astrophysics
Astronomers at the European Southern Observatory in Atacama,Chile have discovered the brightest object in the universe with the Very Large Telescope.A quasar,short for "quasi-stellar",is an Active Galactic Nucleus powered by gases streaming into a supermassive black hole.
Sunday, August 6, 2023
Tuesday, June 20, 2023
Tuesday, May 9, 2023
Webb Looks for Fomalhaut’s Asteroid Belt and Finds Much More - astrophysics
Webb Looks for Fomalhaut’s Asteroid Belt and Finds Much More: Astronomers used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to image the warm dust around a nearby young star, Fomalhaut, in order to study the first asteroid belt ever seen outside of our solar system in infrared light.
Saturday, May 6, 2023
Monday, April 27, 2015
Chile Deals With Calbuco Volcano's Ash;More Eruptions,Lahars Feared
Four hundred Chilean troops have arrived in the scenic Los Lagos region to assist civilians in recovering from last week's eruption of the Calbuco volcano,the first major eruption in fifty years.There had been no discernible activity since 1972.Ash plumes are still billowing out of the volcano,and the National Office of Emergencies said there have been sporadic secondary explosions,correlated with seismic signals that are in turn associated with the movement of fluids inside the volcano,which suggests more eruptions are on the way.It is a very unstable situation for the trekking mecca.
More than 5,000 people were evacuated from the 20-kilometer exclusion zone,but some areas have been temporarily reopened so people can retrieve personal belongings and begin the cleanup process.The weight of ash has caused the collapse of homes,schools and bridges.It has an estimated aggregate weight of 250 million tonnes so far and has accumulated more than 50 centimeters,or about 19.25 inches,on roofs and streets.It looks like a gray desert,observers say.Lava has melted snow on the mountain,and ash is choking streams as well.There was an effort to rescue salmon from the rivers.Crops and trees are being laid waste.The event is similar in some ways to the eruption of Mount St.Helen's in Washington State on 18 May 1980-almost 35 years ago.
Just as with Mount St.Helen's,the threat of lahars looms large in the mind of scientists.A lahar is a swift,destructive flow of pyroclastic material in the form of hot gas and rock that comes out at a temperature of about 1000 degrees C/1380 F,moving at up to 700 kilometers/450 miles an hour,as well as water,mud and rocky debris,down or across the sides of a volcano.The flood may run hot or cold.It may include huge boulders and scour valleys out,stripping them of all vegetation and killing their wildlife.Millions of trees could be uprooted and deposited downstream by a lahar.Lakes can be devastated,and the channels of rivers and streams rerouted.Homes,bridges and other structures can be washed away or buried in the cataclysmic flow.Death may also befall humans who would not or could not evacuate.Some of Mount St.Helen's 57 victims have never been accounted for,and the unforgettable Spirit Lake was temporarily poisoned and clogged with a mat of tree trunks,the lakeside camps obliterated.Even a small volcanic explosion can trigger a lahar after the main eruption.
Just as with the Mount St.Helen's region,however,the residents of Los Lagos can be confident that,even as nature destroys the ecosystem,she can also heal it.While the people who perished in the eruption and lahars can never be replaced,the forests and wildlife around Mount St. Helen's,and even Spirit Lake,which started to recover within three years,have shown an incredible resilience.
An estimated 1.1 billion dollars of losses have been attributed to the Mount St.Helen's events.
More than 5,000 people were evacuated from the 20-kilometer exclusion zone,but some areas have been temporarily reopened so people can retrieve personal belongings and begin the cleanup process.The weight of ash has caused the collapse of homes,schools and bridges.It has an estimated aggregate weight of 250 million tonnes so far and has accumulated more than 50 centimeters,or about 19.25 inches,on roofs and streets.It looks like a gray desert,observers say.Lava has melted snow on the mountain,and ash is choking streams as well.There was an effort to rescue salmon from the rivers.Crops and trees are being laid waste.The event is similar in some ways to the eruption of Mount St.Helen's in Washington State on 18 May 1980-almost 35 years ago.
Just as with Mount St.Helen's,the threat of lahars looms large in the mind of scientists.A lahar is a swift,destructive flow of pyroclastic material in the form of hot gas and rock that comes out at a temperature of about 1000 degrees C/1380 F,moving at up to 700 kilometers/450 miles an hour,as well as water,mud and rocky debris,down or across the sides of a volcano.The flood may run hot or cold.It may include huge boulders and scour valleys out,stripping them of all vegetation and killing their wildlife.Millions of trees could be uprooted and deposited downstream by a lahar.Lakes can be devastated,and the channels of rivers and streams rerouted.Homes,bridges and other structures can be washed away or buried in the cataclysmic flow.Death may also befall humans who would not or could not evacuate.Some of Mount St.Helen's 57 victims have never been accounted for,and the unforgettable Spirit Lake was temporarily poisoned and clogged with a mat of tree trunks,the lakeside camps obliterated.Even a small volcanic explosion can trigger a lahar after the main eruption.
Just as with the Mount St.Helen's region,however,the residents of Los Lagos can be confident that,even as nature destroys the ecosystem,she can also heal it.While the people who perished in the eruption and lahars can never be replaced,the forests and wildlife around Mount St. Helen's,and even Spirit Lake,which started to recover within three years,have shown an incredible resilience.
An estimated 1.1 billion dollars of losses have been attributed to the Mount St.Helen's events.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Health Uncle:Swine Flu Update
Swine flu,or H1N1,hasn't disappeared-far from it.Yesterday,the World Health Organization declared a flu pandemic.That means the virus is spreading in at least two regions of the world.It doesn't mean the illness is any more severe.Dr.Margaret Chan,head of the WHO,said the declaration of a pandemic places us in a strong position,but it also creates a need for advice and reassurance.
There has been a sharp rise in cases of H1N1 in Chile,Japan,the U.K. and Australia,but vaccine development is well underway,and the world is better prepared to fight a pandemic now than ever before.It is the first pandemic in 41 years;however,the death rate is far less than for regular flu-perhaps because it is mainly affecting young people.On the other hand,Dr.Chan reminds us that,like all influenza viruses,this one can change the rules,without rhyme or reason,at any time.All the more important,then,for us to get a good night's sleep,as this bolsters the immune system.
There has been a sharp rise in cases of H1N1 in Chile,Japan,the U.K. and Australia,but vaccine development is well underway,and the world is better prepared to fight a pandemic now than ever before.It is the first pandemic in 41 years;however,the death rate is far less than for regular flu-perhaps because it is mainly affecting young people.On the other hand,Dr.Chan reminds us that,like all influenza viruses,this one can change the rules,without rhyme or reason,at any time.All the more important,then,for us to get a good night's sleep,as this bolsters the immune system.
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